Published: Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 9:23 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 9:23 p.m.

UNC Wilmington women's basketball coach Adell Harris had to do a lot more in-game adjusting than she probably would have liked during Saturday's exhibition contest.

In her first game as the Seahawks' coach, Harris faced plenty of adversity. She remained positive on the bench and her team responded with a second-half run to come away with a 52-38 victory over UNC-Pembroke.

"I'm proud of our kids for hanging in there and weathering the storm," Harris said. "We had some challenges. Some unexpected things happened.

"I just told them 60 percent of what we did today, we have never worked on in practice and that's just the nature of the game."

In the first half, UNCW was whistled for 14 fouls. All three frontcourt players were in foul trouble. Jovana Mandic had four fouls in 5 minutes of play and Chelsea McGowen and Karneshia Garrett picked up three fouls each.

Harris didn't panic though, and decided to play the final 2 1/2 minutes with a five guard lineup.

In the second half, the Seahawks went into a scoring drought and saw their lead that was once 12 points get trimmed to two.

Once again, Harris stayed calm. She called a timeout and her team responded with an 8-0 run to increase the lead back to double digits.

UNCW switched to a zone defense in the second half, frustrating the Braves, who began settling for long jumpers. UNCP finished the game 2-for-17 on 3-pointers and shot just 24 percent from the field.

"We have never worked on a 2-3 zone," Harris said. "I'm ecstatic that we were able to find a way to go 2-2-1 back to 2-3, which we have never done. We drew it up in a timeout and said ‘Hey guys this is what we are gonna need to do to win and they did it.' "

The Seahawks had offensive issues of their own. They also settled for a lot of 3-pointers because of the Braves sagging defense. Brittany Gamby knocked down the first 3-pointer of the game, but after that UNCW went just 2-for-26.

"UNC-Pembroke packs the lane, so that's what they want you to do," Harris said. "We kind of gave into a little bit of that. Some of the kids who need to make shots for us didn't, so it's a combination of both."

Karneshia Garrett led the way for the Seahawks with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Chelsea McGowen chipped in nine points and 12 rebounds and Jessica Freeman had eight points and nine steals.

UNCW opens the season on the road against No. 17 West Virginia on Friday.

<p>UNC Wilmington women's basketball coach Adell Harris had to do a lot more in-game adjusting than she probably would have liked during Saturday's exhibition contest.</p><p>In her first game as the Seahawks' coach, Harris faced plenty of adversity. She remained positive on the bench and her team responded with a second-half run to come away with a 52-38 victory over UNC-Pembroke.</p><p>"I'm proud of our kids for hanging in there and weathering the storm," Harris said. "We had some challenges. Some unexpected things happened.</p><p>"I just told them 60 percent of what we did today, we have never worked on in practice and that's just the nature of the game."</p><p>In the first half, <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/topic71"><b>UNCW</b></a> was whistled for 14 fouls. All three frontcourt players were in foul trouble. Jovana Mandic had four fouls in 5 minutes of play and Chelsea McGowen and Karneshia Garrett picked up three fouls each.</p><p>Harris didn't panic though, and decided to play the final 2 1/2 minutes with a five guard lineup.</p><p>In the second half, the Seahawks went into a scoring drought and saw their lead that was once 12 points get trimmed to two.</p><p>Once again, Harris stayed calm. She called a timeout and her team responded with an 8-0 run to increase the lead back to double digits.</p><p>UNCW switched to a zone defense in the second half, frustrating the Braves, who began settling for long jumpers. UNCP finished the game 2-for-17 on 3-pointers and shot just 24 percent from the field.</p><p>"We have never worked on a 2-3 zone," Harris said. "I'm ecstatic that we were able to find a way to go 2-2-1 back to 2-3, which we have never done. We drew it up in a timeout and said 'Hey guys this is what we are gonna need to do to win and they did it.' " </p><p>The Seahawks had offensive issues of their own. They also settled for a lot of 3-pointers because of the Braves sagging defense. Brittany Gamby knocked down the first 3-pointer of the game, but after that UNCW went just 2-for-26.</p><p>"UNC-Pembroke packs the lane, so that's what they want you to do," Harris said. "We kind of gave into a little bit of that. Some of the kids who need to make shots for us didn't, so it's a combination of both."</p><p>Karneshia Garrett led the way for the Seahawks with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Chelsea McGowen chipped in nine points and 12 rebounds and Jessica Freeman had eight points and nine steals.</p><p>UNCW opens the season on the road against No. 17 West Virginia on Friday.</p>